The Obama administration has given itself extraordinary tools to sanction any Russian official or any of the leadership’s “cronies” over the crisis in Ukraine.

The question is, will the United States use them?

Senior officials told CNN there was a two-hour meeting at the White House on Monday to discuss next steps.

The United States and Europe earlier imposed travel bans and froze assets of senior Russian and Crimean officials.

The administration went a step further by banning entry and freezing all U.S. assets held by any Russian government official or people with close financial ties to 11 people, including advisers to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Obama administration is already preparing a list of additional Russian officials and “cronies” to be targeted under an Obama executive order that serves as a blueprint for sanctions.

Action could be taken even if Russia does not take any additional steps beyond its intervention in the strategic Crimean peninsula.

“We are already working on more than the 11 named today,” one senior administration official said, adding more names could be added to the list by the end of the week.

As promised earlier, there will be more sanctions if Russia moves to annex Crimea or moves further militarily into Ukraine. Crimeans voted in a referendum on Sunday to rejoin Russia, and Putin has signed a decree recognizing their independence.

Identifying and adding to the list of those already named takes time and is labor intensive.

“We are working like hell on this to be ready if and when Putin moves,” another senior administration official said.

Under the current authority, the United States can go after any institution, bank or energy company that invests in Crimea.

As the second official said, “If I was a Russian company, I would be very careful about investing in Crimea. We can get you and we will be working very carefully.”

Officials say the additional authority to add officials working in the arms sector, which was announced on Monday, is the tip of the iceberg in terms of potentially targeting other industries.

In discussions with the Europeans, officials said there is broad agreement about eventually considering other broad economic sanctions on banking or energy sectors.

However, officials acknowledge these are the types of biting sanctions that will be needed to really impact the Russian economy and make the government feel the pinch.

“Sanctions aren’t a magic wand and don’t work immediately, but they have tremendous consequences over time if you mean them,” the second official said. “But we have come this far and that is pretty far for a few weeks.

soundoff(54 Responses)

WorldPleaseAllSay"No!"ToRussia

World Democratic nations should transform RUBLE into RUBBLE!, then, when RUBLE becomes RUBBLE Russia will have to use its pure gold to trade with the world ! if he world still accept trading with this barbarian beasts! Let Russia holds Crimea and it also has to hold RUBBLE to pay daily costs in Russia to all Russians! All investments, and money in Russia will fly away and let Russia having a holed pocket as Putin loves to do for his people and nation!
No trade with Russia in all conceivable ways!

Will the idiot above kindly quite spewing his ignorance on this web page? It's getting old and besides, I was in Russia and the people there are peace loving much unlike many of us Americans who erroneously perceive some kind of "glory" in these obnoxious wars overseas. I'm glad to say that I'm not one of them. Enough said.

Quarant, these are paid trolls, paid no doubt by some Department or the other in Wash DC. Basically semi-literate, they are paid to post these one-liners, often including words like idiot or moron, what have you. Don't try and reason with them, it is completely beyond their ken.

March 27, 2014 at 10:14 am |

WorldPleaseAllSay"No!"ToRussia

"PLEASE SANCTION RUSSIA UNTIL THIS NATION WILL HAVE NO ECONOMY, NO INDUSTRY, NO FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES, NO INVASION, NO SIT ABOVE WORLD LAWS AND JUSTICE, NO ARROGANT AND LAWLESS WORLD TROUBLEMAKER!"
The World Sanctions against Russian Invasion on Ukraine MUST BE KEPT AS LONG AS CRIMEA IS STILL SWAPPED BY RUSSIA AND ALSO TREATING THE SANCTIONS AS AN UNLEASHING MIRACLE TO PUT DOWN AN EVIL INVADER and makes the invader scares to death to dare not repeat its invasion malpractices again with time!
Keep the Sanctions last about 100 years to see how wonderful effects of the magic wand sanction to do its jobs!

My oh my, WorldPleaseAllSay"No!"ToRussia, do you honestly believe that manure you keep parroting or are you just trying to be funny? Either way, you sound as if you never got past the 4th grade in school. Even a 4th grader would be smart enough not to buy the mumbo-jumbo you posted above. Exactly what do you take the rest of us for anyway?

Well said, Jeff. It's nice to see someone tell that idiot above who keeps spewing his ignorance here where to get off!

March 24, 2014 at 5:13 pm |

Quarant

Sanctions are the actions of a coward. The hypocracy at work on behalf of the "Western powers" is mind boggling-the quest for the "new world order" is the most foolish one to lust after; Hitler tried-memba him ?!

In the 21st century, SANCTIONS these Good stuffs will definitely ring the Economic bell as long as you want the bell sounds! And when the bell sounds in Russia all the times in the deep deep middle of all nights then no single Russian can sleep well in bed! and Putin is not an exception!
For sure, I feel fallen in love with the world Sanctions approach on the very nice and civilized Russia while it dreams to play a foul play by using Russian thugs stirring up Crimea and leading to the Russian invasion into this penis sula Crimea the so-called: "A stooping penis of Ukraine" since the day one till now !
Finally, the entire world today all united altogether to practice their Art of Sanctions to Russia and all sitting idle to watch the outcomes that will show up from their SANCTIONS on Russia Society and especially on Russian economy, financial activities and industries and its exporting mightiness of raw materials and energy sectors !
Putin seems to be a super hero in the moments that Russian economy become bleeding and bleeding to reach its eternal rest and all factories and industrial activities in Russia at these moments all take long vacations and all Russians all receive the letters of taking long vacations as as long as wished! Putin in this time windows who will conduct his breast feeding to his beloved 100+ millions of Russian job-hunters and unemployed benefiters as long as he wishes to do so!
At this moment, all jobless Russians will again consider Putin as a hero of Russia due to he could bring down the Russian economy with a small action in the invaded Ukraine nation with dedication and courage of a Russian hero that no single hero on earth could do the same way!

Judging by all these ignorant anti-Russian rants here, I never knew that so many people never went to high school. To them I say, before you post any more of your senseless rants, go get your GED or at least, finish grade school!

It looks like some jerk is using my screen name here to post his nonsense under it. As the real Joe6957 here, I never said any of those things posted under my name on this web page. For the record, I don't agree with any of this anti-Russian malarkey!

I gotta better one for you, mister American-with-a-selective-memory ! I wonder if George Bush the first and George Bush the Second have or see any of the Iraqi or Afghan, etc. victims they have had illegally killed in their ILLEGAL interventions ! The American pot loves to call the Russian kettle black. How typical.

All this anti-Russian manure is starting to get awfully old and fast. We need more high school graduates posting here since this one ignorant fool "WorldPleaseSayNoToRussia" keeps on parroting his senseless anti-Russian garbage!!!!

Very well said, R. Wilson. Like you said, we have too many anti-Russian idiots blogging their ignorance on this website! I never knew how many grade school dropouts there were until I started reading their posts here!

The ICC (International Criminal Court) must put the name Putin on the world criminals list to capture this harmful criminal when he will sneak out of Russia in the future! If ICC could put the name of Hitler, Gadhafi, al-Assad, Lon Non, Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, Mao Tse Tung, etc, on the criminal lists then Putin cannot be an exception at all!

I noticed that you didn't mention Barack Obama or George W. Bush both of whom are by far much worse than Vladimir Putin ever thought of being. Look at Barack Obama's having people butchered by his godless drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan day after day, not to mention George Bush's senseless invasion of Iraq resulting in the deaths of approximately 1.2 million people. As fat as war criminals go, start looking here in the good ol' U.S.of A.!!!!!!!

Kim Jong Un will be joining the list soon, too. Even as he is burying innocent prisoners alive.

March 19, 2014 at 12:19 am |

Joe6957

Russia buthchered many people in Afghanistan in their effort to colonize and take over that country.

March 19, 2014 at 12:21 am |

WorldPleaseAllSay"No!"ToRussia

Putin wants its Russia to become a barbaric state just like his mentality as to tease the world with lawlessness and barbaric practices caused by his crime-soaked mind and soul to the levels that all world nations today all turn their back to Russia and let Russia enjoy its own snow and grass as the natural resources that can support foods to the 100 + millions eating mouths in Russia!

No single Russian student will be allowed to come to study in the university or college in the world democratic nations today and beyond the 29 century! in order to turn back the Russian clock of pogress back into the 17 century in technologies, sciences and progresses that relate to world advanced know-hows and sciences and technologies

World Nations please repatriate all unpredictable Russians back to Russia to prevent your nations will possible face another Crimea or several Crimeas in the future caused by Putin 'd criminally maliciously evil plans

Hello To All World People!
"Please Say NO to Russia in All World Business and Economic and Industrial, Scientific and Technological Cooperative Activities"
Please DO NOT Buy anything or Sell anything to Russia!
Let Russia live like a perfectly isolated island in this world today and beyond 29 century!

Hello To All World People!
"Please Say NO to Russia in All World Business and Economic and Industrial, Scientific and Technological Cooperative Activities"
Please DO NOT Buy anything or Sell anything to Russia!
Let Russia live like a perfectly isolated island in this world today and beyond 2 century!

I admire US compromise in keeping world safe....but the World has not the energy necessary to stop Russia in this issue. It is time to keep calm and respect Crimeans will. US and Europe´s image can be severely damaged if it keeps talking too much and almost not actin.

I can't get over just what crybabies that Obama and his right-wing henchmen really are! These fools in Washington keep on mouthing off over "democratic values" but then in Crimea when the chips were down, these jerks now cry over this plebiscite being a "sham". This has a way of happening ever time these fools in Washington don't like the way the people actually vote. This is hypocrisy at it's worst!!!

The GOP Solution: Turn all the Old, Sick, Poor, Non-white, Non-christian, Female, and Gay people into slaves. Then whip them until they are Young, Healthy, Rich, White, Christian, Male, and Straight. Or until they are dead. Then turn them into Soylent Green to feed the military during the next "unfunded/off-the-books" war. And don't forget the GOP all time favorites............TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH!!........and.........GET RID OF SS AND MEDICARE!!

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CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.